The Watchers
by PettyMood
Summary: Ninten and Ana foresaw that Giegue was going to return, but they also knew that the Chosen Four were going to save the world. So instead of helping directly, they took Loid with them on a "vacation." Takes place during the Earthbound game and will occasionally pan over to their group of heroes.
1. A Beginning to Every Tale

It had been _years_ that had passed since that last, fleeting moment. He could clearly remember the eight melodies being sung into the darkness. Their last hope had been their savior. It was only enough to save the day though, not even a lifetime.

The male hesitated, his hand wavering over the telephone. Did he even have a phone?

He was being ridiculous. Of course he had a phone. Why wouldn't he? He knew for a fact that he had a phone. He was just stalling now. Taking a deep breath, he started dialing. The clicking noise of the phone as the buttons went around and around resounded in the room shortly before he was interrupted.

"Honey? Is that you, Ninten? Are you calling your father?"

His mother entered the room from the staircase off to the back of the room. Ninten slammed the telephone handset back as he turned to face her, shaking his head. This action awarded him with a tight frown.

"Now, you know how I feel about you treating the phone so roughly," his mother spoke. He sighed as he picked it up again, but he did not start to dial this time. An eyebrow raising, his mother leaned forward as she approached him from behind.

"Did you forget your poor father's number?"

A shake of the head was given. His mother stood upright and properly as to give her son space and scooted back a little.

"Then for heaven's' sake, who are you calling exactly?" she cried. Ninten pondered over what to say exactly before responding:

"Do you know what Loid's number is?"

"Hun, who's this Loid boy you speak about again?"

"He's the guy with really pale hair and plastic rimmed, HUGE, circular glasses. Does that ring a bell, Mom?"

It had taken a few idle moments, but at last something had formed as an idea in the woman's head.

"Ah, yes, dearie! That young boy!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know you and your friends exchanged phone numbers."

"Erm... yeah, though he wrote it down somewhere."

"H'm... Have you tried looking through your room then?"

The truth was a flat no, but Ninten wouldn't utter that word with any dignity. He'd just be shoo'd off to his room with something along the lines of an 'I told you so!' and the bratty twins mocking his mother's words. He spoke in the form of incomprehensible and short phrases as his mother's eyes narrowed and her foot started tapping. Uh oh. That was never a good sign paired along with her arms folded across her chest. Taking the sign, he edged away slowly while his mother's eyes followed his every move. He then dashed his way up the steps and across the hall to his room at the very end. Opening the door in his hurrying, he quickly slammed it behind him. From below, he heard the muffled shouting of his mother.

Now, it was time to go find that cursed slip of paper. Loid couldn't have just written it on his arm, now could he? Maybe he shouldn't have waited all these years to actually call the guy up. His room was almost completely barren- white was the color that covered the carpet and the walls and the ceiling and even the single, isolated chair and parts of his bed. This proved to be both an advantage and a disadvantage as most things were.

1) He could easily find something in something was was almost empty as opposed to messy.

2) The piece of paper was probably white, and thus the room provided a great place for it to camouflage.

He knew one thing though i.e. that he had only his pockets and a few bags he had bought for inventory on the journey. He went straight to underneath the bed, dropping down onto his chest and knees and skidding very briefly across the carpet. Meeting underneath the blanket into the dark abyss, he began to paw at the items he had stuffed underneath. A various assortment of baseball bats- broken and not- had found their way down there as well as a few pencils left over from the numerous school years. Near the front of the bed he reached out for the big bag and pulled it out. With little difficulty he able to force it out of the gap between the wood and the floor of the room. If he HAD stuffed in it here, he hoped he didn't accidentally feed his friends the paper rather than an herb. Then again, he was pretty sure they wouldn't be idiotic enough to at least notify him if he did something like that. At least he hoped so.

Opening the big bag, he began to rummage around in it. Its contents had greatly depleted since the moment he had bought it. Picking up one dried up herb and pulling it towards his nose, he took a big sniff. While it may have been a good while, there was still the very faint leftovers of its mystical and whimsical scent to lift his spirits. He dropped it back in and continued to try looking for it by touch. He gave a deep sigh as it dawned on him that the scribble was not to be found within the bunches of herbs. He closed it up and set it against the bottom of his bed before he went to look in his drawers. Sliding one out, he found the clean piles of folded cloth his mother had left all organized by type as she had always. Even when he was surely capable and really did deserve to be forced to put up with some form of responsibility, she had made sure everything was neat and tidy in almost all the rooms of the house.

This all was reversed in almost an instant as the boy started checking through all the articles of clothing. If he didn't find it in a pocket or a fold or in the inside, he tossed it. It was as simple as that. His eyes darted around as his hands moved frantically. After a bit, his hand had reached the plain and smooth surface of the bottom of the drawer. He forced it back to its original position as he moved onto the next one below it, crouching down to reach it. Shaking his head when he got no results, he didn't bother closing it as he dashed back down the staircase. His footsteps echoing in the house, his mother asked:

"What's the rush? Did you not find it upstairs?"

This simple question had been silently answered as he went to get the basement key on the dinner table and fumbled with it as he unlocked the door nearest to the phone. He hurried on down and made his way to the washer and dryer. They had finished their cycles long ago, but everyone had yet to actually put them into baskets and sort them to each family member. Opening the doors, he repeated the process he had used upstairs to search in both. Similarly, the results were unlucky for him. Shutting the two behind him, he let out an exasperated groan and sludged up the basement staircase.

"Sorry to hear you didn't find it, dear. Do you want a good ol' rack of ribs for dinner later tonight to take things off your mind?" his mother offered. Ninten nodded as he slumped into a nearby chair, slapping on the red baseball cap he had laid on the ground next to it. It brought good memories to him, that's to be sure. Feeling restless and uneasy though, he decided to take it off again to play with it a little just to get his hands busy. Peering inside though, his eyes widened. Taking the cap with him, he ran to the phone once more and set the hat next to the telephone as he began to dial rapidly with a growing grin.

He couldn't believe he had forgotten it all along; He had placed it in his baseball cap along with Ana's mailing address.


	2. Sorry, Wrong Number

There went the ringing in the phone. The annoying, low noise that droned on and had the side-effect of making you antsy in your anticipation. Ninten was no exception to this. Nearly trembling in his excitement and impatience, he was relieved when it stopped and a voice was heard on the other side.

"Excuse me, who is this?"

Ninten instinctively jumped back a bit in his surprise. He didn't quite remember Loid's voice being anything at all similar to this! It was certainly more... deep at least. There was something in their voice that made him think it was a refined yet rough-edged sound. He quickly picked his senses back up and responded:

"This is Ninten."

"You mean the little boy with the baseball cap turned from far back when?"

"Yeah... Hey, is this Loid?"

There was a hearty laugh on the other side of the line before he had gotten an answer.

"No, no. I'm Loid's father."

"Th-Then can I speak to him? Quickly?"

"I'm afraid not," the man stated with his tone turning quickly grim. Ninten felt the color of his face run and he let out a short-lived and quiet gasp. He grabbed a firm grasp on the table and the handset, making a rattling noise out of the table with its multiple pans and utensils inside shifted about.

"Why not?!" Ninten cried. This was not what he was expecting at all for his plans.

"He's... away. He got transferred to a boarding school over in Foggyland a couple years back."

"Foggyland?!"

"Yes. If you want to know more, kiddo, he's in Winters. Snow Wood Boarding School. I have their number somewhere around the house with his stuff, but I think you're better off looking for their number elsewhere in a book or something. It might be a little trouble, but if you really need to talk to him, that's the only way."

And for once that phrase was true. He had never step foot in a foreign country, and especially not in a boarding school's area. He quickly added in a thank you and was about to hang up before he heard the other start up again.

"Hey, before you go I wanted to just say thanks for taking the trouble to talk with my kid. I'm sure he appreciates it as much as I do."

"Of course! See you, Sir!"

Ninten slammed the handset back onto the phone and placed his hat on his head. A irritated 'tch tch tch' came from his mother as he rushed to find the yellow book containing any number imaginable. He didn't think he'd have much luck, but it was always worth a try. Taking the book, he dropped it with a great big 'thump!' onto the kitchen table before beginning to flip through it. His eyes scanned the small lines of text as his fingers quickly flipped through. At last, he was able to find just what he needed. Getting a pair of scissors out from the kitchen cabinet, his mother had scolded him multiple times throughout for darting around the room with such haste and disregard to safety.

By the time Ninten was at the phone once more, the book was left at the table with a giant square of paper cut out and little snippets and remains of it scattered nearby it as Ninten held a sloppily cut line with the exact number he needed as he began to dial. Awkwardly holding the handset in the same hand he was dialing, he was once more shaking with the same energy he had had when he went to his first baseball game as a young child. Keeping the handset close to his ear and mouth when he had finished, he waited and waited.

_'Please work, please work, please work...'_

"Ah, hello. You have called the Snow Wood Boarding House. How may I be of assistance?"

"D-Do you have a Loid there? L-O-I-D, I mean."

"Do you not have a last name available, sir?"

"No, I don't..."

"May I ask who is calling then?"

"A.. A friend. Yeah, I've been his bud for a while. My name is Ninten."

"Let me look in our records, though you may be waiting a while. I do apologize for the inconvenience, but it's the best I can do with what limited information you were able to provide."

Ninten stood there, his fingers tapping at the desk while the piece of paper was scrunched up between his fingers. He really should have asked for Loid's name back then. What a big idiot he was trying to call a private school with probably a gazillion students! He was relying on the fact he spelt his name weird to be his savior for a connection!

"Ah, I believe I do have a hold of him. Let me connect you to his room. If he's not there, call back and I shall leave a note in his box to notify him."

"Thank you, Ma'am!"

C'mon, Loid- Pick up! If he wasn't there, what a colossal waste this would've been. He technically could wait, but boy did he not want to do that. The kind of information he had riding on his brain right now was too important to have to wait of all things.

"H-Hello..?"

"LOID, BUDDY!"

"EEEAAAAUUGH-!"

_beeeeep beeeeeeep..._

Well, looks like _that_ didn't go as planned. Rolling his eyes and releasing a big sigh, he began to dial once more.

"Hello there. You have reached the Snow Wood Boarding House. How may I help you?"

"Can I just call Loid again, lady?"

"Ah, you, young boy! What went wrong last time? Was he not there?"

"Er... he was there alright."

"Then what's the matter?"

"Could you just redial for me, please? I'd rather not talk about it."

"In just a moment, if you will."

_beeep beeeeeeeep..._

"I AM SO SORRY IF THIS IS YOU AGAIN, NINTEN."

Ninten couldn't help but let loose a chuckle when he was greeted by the other. Now this sounded more like him!

"D-Don't worry 'bout it!"

A couple of deep breaths could be heard on the other side of the line as he listened.

"S..So, hello...," Loid spoke afterwards. There was a long pause that followed it before Ninten felt the need to fill in the gap. He'd rather make this worthwhile than waste all this money. Ugh, international phone prices. He hoped his dad wouldn't kill him when he saw the bill.

"Long time no see, buddy! Or I guess, in this case hear."

"Yeah... Say, we haven't talked in ages. Why now?"

"Well, buckle up your seatbelt because I'm about to tell you one heck of a tale, Loid!"

"Oh God..."

"Okay, so here's the big news-"

"For the love of all that's good and safe, please don't ask me to be your kid's Godfather."

Ninten froze up upon hearing what Loid had decided to interrupt him with before bursting into a hearty, loud laughter. Echoing ever so slightly throughout the room, his boisterous voice was accompanied by a 'shhh!' from his mother.

Ninten said:

"Don't worry, pal. I didn't get hitched just yet."

Loid gave a sigh of relief as if he had been holding his breath in for quite some time.

"Good to have that situated out. I don't do well with that kind of stuff.

"Anyway, what were you saying?" Loid asked, a faint and nervous laugh lived shortly on his end.

"I was gonna tell you what Ana told me."

"Wait a second- You still write letters to _her_ but you didn't think about calling me _once_ in the last six to seven years?"

Loid could hear a sigh on the other side of the line before Ninten responded:

"Listen... I'm forgetful."

"Yeah, forgetful alright concerning someone who isn't your _girlfriend_!"

"Wait a second- How'd you know_ that_?"

"Pffft, as if you thought it wasn't plain obvious. I'm not a dumb weakling for crying out loud, Ninten! I don't need to be there for whatever happened while I was booted out, I can just take a pretty darn good look and make an assumption. Wasn't I a friend of yours? Friends talk to each other. You have a tier list just as everybody else does and you decide to contact someone else by the typical pain-staking process of waiting and writing by hand over me. If that isn't the cherry on top of everything else I saw, I don't know what is."

"Yeah, yeah... Alright then. But I do have something she wanted me to tell you."

"Oh, so you didn't want to tell me? You're just forcing yourself?"

"No, no, no! I'm sorry for wording it that way, pal."

"...Apology accepted."

"I... This is really big on your plate. Let me start from the beginning."

Taking a deep breath, Ninten started:

"So, do you remember Giegue? You know, the funky ali-"

"I'm very well aware of him. You were saying?" Loid interrupted.

"Well, Ana thinks he's coming back. And I know how crazy that sounds-"

"Except he pointed out at the end that he was going to come back anyway."

"Well, yes, but I didn't think it'd be so soon."

"He specifically said he'd face _you_ again! Do you not remember this stuff?"

"I guess not, but still! Ana thinks we won't be the people to stop him. No, she thinks it's going to be some other group of kids. Kids with psychic powers just like you and- I mean Ana and me."

"Poor kids," Loid stated flatly, devoid of any actual sound of sympathy.

"You're hilarious, Loid. You really are, but Ana wants to propose something."

"And that would be...?"

"A little road trip."


	3. Take Chances!

There was a silence on the line. All Ninten could hear was the faint sound of Loid's breathing filling in the gap. He wasn't quite sure what exactly to say next as it had been sort of a prompt for Loid to respond to and obviously the other wasn't pulling his end of the conversation. It felt as if there was a lump in his throat he couldn't get out as he stood still... waiting. Waiting for some kind of response. Any kind of response.

"...What? Could you repeat what you just said Ana proposed?"

Well, that worked technically. Ninten answered:

"She wants us to take a road trip."

"Are... Are you kidding me?! That's what you were building up to? In what way did any of what you had just said connect to an invitation to take a road trip?"

"I'm... I can't tell you exactly, buddy."

"Are... Am I really your 'buddy' then? You seem to be far off better with little miss daughter of God if you ask me. I _know_ you probably have an answer."

"Yeah, I do. But it'll sound insane. Ana wanted me to say it was a 'vacation' anyway."

"A vacation?" Loid laughed. "It's in the middle of the school year for God's sake! Does she take me for a fool?"

"I'm..." Ninten sighed before continuing, "I'm sure she means well in some weird, convoluted way."

"Okay, tell me what she's hiding."

"You sure about this, dude?"

"I am _absolutely_ 100% positive about this, and I swear on it."

"She wants us... Argh, this is harder than I thought."

"Say it straight out. Do first, think later," Loid urged him.

"Ana wants us to go follow these kids and watch them go around the world and help them if we get the chance.

...Hey! That actually worked! Good advice, bud!"

"Oh my God... I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I think I'd be willing to go on an insane adventure again IF-"

"Yeah, yeah? If what?!"

"If you can find a way on getting me out. You can teleport here, right?"

Ninten's face was overcast with a shadow as he gave a nervous laugh. Beginning to answer, Loid cut him off. "So you can't. Well, I have no idea how to get there then."

"Well, Ana and I could always try and see what we can do- Y'know, like maybe take a plane there?"

"Another problem arises, my friend." A groan escaped from Ninten's mouth before Loid continued, "As I've stated, I currently reside in Snow Wood Boarding School."

"Your point?"

"I could very well get _expelled _if I sneak out or you could land yourself in trouble if you try to break me out."

"Well, Loid, there's one thing you should remember: Take chances! Make mistakes!"

"Get messy?" Loid finished along with him, an eyebrow raising.

"Exactly! The Friz means well- You're into that series, right?"

"In a way, sure, but does that have any relevance to what the matter at hand is?"

"Loid, it has _everything_ to do with what we were talking about! Ana can't route our entire path, but she does know one thing: We'll be headed for Onett first."

Loid took a deep sigh before caving in. "Alright, I can see how much I can do. I don't have much of a way to contact you guys though if I really do this insane thing you're requesting."

"I'm sure we'll find a way, buddy! Nothing can keep us apart for sure!"

"You say that when I'll probably get lost in Eagleland."

"Hey, hey. If you could find us on the mountain in America, I'm sure you'll be just fine. Follow where distress lies, and we should be very nearby I bet! Also, Ana wanted me to tell you one more thing, by the way."

"Oh, so she actually acknowledges me?"

"You can stop being such a pain in the butt as she just wanted to say that you should stay safe. Anyway, I shouldn't be saying this, but it might be worth of note to you. I think another kid in the chosen four is coming from wherever you are, so you can try leaving him something I guess. Anyway, I should probably run, because Dad will KILL me after seeing how much money this call costed. See you later, Loid!"

"G... Goodbye, Ninten."

_Beeeep beeeeeeeeep._


	4. Chatter in Snow Wood

Winters always seemed to give off the feeling of cold and rarely in an uproar to some foreigners. Its little jingle almost was a lullaby to some as they traveled through the snow that just seemed to pile up. Everything seemed so peaceful with its light blue sky and its white fluff of ice. However, it seemed Winters was always a strange and peculiar place. There were onlookers waiting for a glimpse of the rumored 'Tessie' and an old scientist said to be nuts somewhere. To the north you would find the Snow Wood Boarding House- an elite academy for almost all ages. Boys of green uniforms did their studies and gossiped, chattering within their dorm halls.

Today was no exception. It seemed different than the previous days though. The buzzing in the air was louder than typical, chattering at its ultimate height. It was all a blend of voices of different ranges and pitches who seemed to all be focused on just one topic rather than the multitude of fantastical discussions they usually had. Today was the day of just one conversation split among different social groups.

"Jeff!" a cheerful voice exclaimed. The blond stirred from his rest, sitting up from his bed. "Good morning, Tony," he replied as he reached for his glasses. Surprised he didn't feel them on their usual place. Tony gave a giggle. "I cleaned your glasses for you, buddy! Boy, your glasses get really dirty really quick!"

Handing them to their proper owner, Jeff placed them onto his face and adjusted it before muttering a "Thank you."

Sliding out of bed, he went over to the dresser beginning to find a clean uniform. "So, Jeff! Have you heard?"

"Heard what? I noticed that it's exceptionally loud today for starters. Hey.. Why are you awake so early today anyway?"

"Oh, that? Well, you should come out and listen to it! I'm sure you'll get your answer quicker than you can fix something right up!" Without answering the latter question, Tony bolted out the room with a grin and a hum. Opening his mouth to question his antics, he stopped when Tony had left and gave a sigh instead.

After changing, Jeff entered the hallway and closed the door behind him. There was the usual mass of faces chattering excessively about the news outside of the school. Examining the room, he looked for the familiar hat.

"Oh! Hey-oh, Jeff! You're Andonut's kid, right?" a student asked, leaning over him. He seemed to tower over the shorter Jeff. He must've been an upperclassman Jeff deduced. The blond readjusted his glasses as his voice shook when he replied a simple, "..Yeah."

The student continued to grin and gave the younger one some space. "Well, shucks! Nice to meet'cha, Jeffy boy! Can't say I come from such a marvelous lineage, but I'm here anywho. The name's Henry." He held a hand out to which Jeff stared at. It was quiet and Henry's eyes shifted elsewhere as his grin started to drop before Jeff took a stern hold of it and shook it before quickly letting go. Henry's head gave a little tilt before his smile reformed.

"So, erm..."

"Oh, yes?" Henry's eyes lit up as he started to lean forward once more.

"Why... Why are you here exactly?" Jeff blurted out. "I-I mean, you should be in a different hallway, right?"

Henry's answer came out with a melodious laugh. "Quick to think, I see!" He ruffled up the younger's hair before standing up straight and tall, raising a hand to his chin to stroke it as he thought of a way to form a proper response while the other winced. "I suppose you hear this ruckus right here, eh? Thought to hear it all out! Of course, I know perfectly well what they're all talking about- happened right in my very own hallway after all! But it's nice to hear everyone's thoughts on it if you ask me! Besides, I don't have anywhere to be going today. It's a Sunday, you know!"

Jeff nodded. "Pardon me, but what exactly happened?"

At that, Henry jumped. His voice suddenly had a tone of alertness to it that wasn't present in his previously jolly and seemingly carefree manner. "W-Wait a second- hold up now, you're saying you don't know?"

Gulping, Jeff slowly nodded once more. "Should I know already...?" Looking into the elder's eyes though, he already knew the answer. The cries of the other students became audible and clear now rather than distorted and mixed up into something incomprehensible. He could hear the shrieks of, "Did you hear?" and, "I can't believe it!" It didn't end there though. In that brief time period, he felt as if he heard tid bits of every single conversation.

"He's sooo gonna get it!" "Whaddaya' think about it all?" "Man, I don't know how he could've done it!" "He's gone completely insane!" "Gee, I hope he's okay..." "Makes you wonder what made him do it!" "Well, I heard from a guy that..." "Just you wait 'till the headmaster hears about this!" "Man, this is the most exciting thing I've heard just yet!" "Do you think he really did it?" "I bet he's just pulling some big prank! How much you wanna bet he's hiding away in his room?" It was enough to give him the idea it wasn't any good, but it was vague enough he didn't know exactly _what_ had occurred.

It all seemed to die down to a sudden silence when Henry spoke again.

"Well... You see... How do I put this? A... A student had gone... missing."

"Missing?"

"Precisely! I don't think you would know too much about him. He's not really a talker. Boy can whip up a storm of curses though, lemme tell you! His name's Loid as far as I know! Nobody's seen him since last night. Completely vanished out of the blue sometime between late last night and this morning it looks like."

Something clicked in Jeff's mind.

"Wait, do you mean Loid _Pilgrim_?"

"Huh... Now that you mention it, yeah!" Henry's eyes grew wide. "You know of him?"

"Yes. Well... sort of. He came from Merrysville."

"Oh? From Eagleland?"

"He calls it America, but you're probably right."

There was a silence once more before Henry asked:

"Say, how do you know him anyway? He doesn't strike me of the type of guy to go parading into the lower-aged hallways or common rooms."

"Let's say he taught me all there is to know about rockets."

"Wait, you mean to tell me it was _him_ who caused that incident with the mighty rocket blasted into the air?"

"I suppose you can say that."

"Well, if you somehow got on such friendly terms with him, do _you_ got any idea where he headed off to?"

"Can't say I do," Jeff sighed. He knew one thing perfectly clear and it was that the runaway had a reason, and he was afraid to find out what it was if he ever crossed his path again.


End file.
